Towards an SSVEP-BCI Controlled Smart Home

Abstract

Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) based on Steady-State Visually Evoked Potentials (SSVEPs) can be used as hand-free control device. To utilize this control method in a real life scenario, we created a system in which a smart home is controlled by BCI. Six devices in the smart home environment could be controlled with the BCI system: The entrance door, the wardrobe, the kitchens' worktop and drawers, the light system of all the rooms and a guide light. In the presented paper, the visual stimuli for the BCI were placed at multiple screens in the smart home (placed at different locations such as the kitchen and the living room). The processing was done on one computer, located in the living room. The placement of the visual stimuli corresponded to the actuators that were controlled, e.g. the kitchen drawers were linked to the stimuli displayed in the kitchen. An online experiment was conducted where participants went through a scenario consisting of thirteen SSVEP-BCI selections in total. Eight healthy participants took part in the experiments. For BCI signal acquisition, a mobile EEG amplifier was used. Participants walked freely around the rooms during the experiment. An average accuracy of 81 % was achieved, which suggests that the SSVEP-system is suitable to control the external devices in the smart home, and that the system can be expanded to involve more actuators.